You don't get a much cooler looking receiver than the Marantz SR7005. When the front panel is closed, its full metal chassis has a wonderful minimalist aesthetic with only two knobs, a power button, and a circular display surrounded by a light blue glow.

Of course, you're not buying a receiver just for the looks. The SR7005 sports a 400Mhz, 32-bit Sharc DSP from Analog Devices that handles all the audio decoding in addition to a wide array of features from Audyssey, like Dynamic EQ and MultEQ XT PRO. It's also got Dolby ProLogic IIz for vertical surrounds.

The 7005 has a total of six HDMI 1.4 inputs, including one in the front for those temporary hookups. Thanks to Anchor Bay's ABT2015 chipset, everything that goes into the SR7005 comes out in 1080p. The current feedback amplifier circuit in the 7005 was originally created for SACD playback, so it's no stranger to lossless audio. It's made of Marantz's own HDAMs and an oversized low-impedance transformer.

There's also a built-in digital media player, which allows you to grab music from networked PCs or NAS drives for playback on your receiver. And of course, an iPod compatible USB drive sits right on the front, ready for playback. The SR7005 will be arriving this August at a price of $1,599.